The Cat and the Heir of Slytherin
by dhawthorne
Summary: Harry Potter version of "Puss and Boots". Please read and review!


The Cat and the Heir of Slytherin

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Written for the LJ community riddle_gifts, for prompt 73: Retelling of some classic fairy-tale (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Snow Queen, Beauty and the Beast or any other) starring HP characters, Tom as one of the main characters, good or evil. Magic universe or not (if it's possible); het or slash; any rating.

A/N: Retelling of the story "Puss in Boots."

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Once upon a time, there was a woman who gave birth to a son, dying shortly after he came into the world. When she died, she left her son three things: his name, Tom Marvolo Riddle; the ability to do magic; and the bloodline of Salazar Slytherin.

Many years later, Tom Marvolo Riddle had grown into a powerful wizard and began attending the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was sorted into Slytherin House, though he was a half-blood. Because of his blood status, despite the fact that he was Slytherin's heir (though that was a secret he was keeping to himself for the time being), he was not accepted among his housemates, as Slytherin House valued blood purity.

One day during his seventh year at the school, Tom privately bemoaned his troubles in the Room of Requirement, a room that appeared when a person needed it to. He was certain that he was one of the few people who knew of its existence, and used it quite often.

"However can I be accepted by the purebloods when I am a half-blood and have no money? How can I tell them that I am the Heir of Slytherin, and deserve respect?" he asked aloud.

A silver tabby cat with markings like spectacles slunk out of the shadows.

"Cheer up!" the cat told him. "Get me an Invisibility cloak. If you do, you will never be unhappy again."

Tom was very surprised to hear the cat speak, but he did as the cat told him. He got her an Invisibility cloak.

When Tom had given the cloak to the cat, the cat slipped under the cloak and disappeared from view. She went to the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room, and waited for someone to enter. She did not have to wait long, and she was soon inside. She hurried to the dormitory of the male fifth years and knocked on the door. Out came Abraxas Malfoy and his cronies.

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned, and he will need your support in the days to come," the cat said, still hidden under the Invisibility cloak. Malfoy and his cronies looked visibly shaken.

"But there is no Heir of Slytherin," said Malfoy to his mates.

"Don't be too sure of that," the cat said, before slipping away.

On the second and third days, the cat slipped back into the Slytherin Common room and repeated the same message. On the third day, when she was leaving, she heard two of Malfoy's cronies talking.

"Abraxas is having a gathering to determine who is the Heir of Slytherin," said Cygnus Black.

"Yes, we meet at nine o'clock, at Malfoy Manor," replied Gregory Goyle.

The cat ran as fast as she could from the Slytherin Common Room to the Room of Requirement.

"Tom!" she cried, "Today your fortune will be made! All you must do is appear at Malfoy Manor at nine o'clock tonight, wearing an Invisibility cloak. Leave the rest to me."

Tom did as the cat told him. He Apparated to Malfoy Manor and snuck into the library, where Malfoy and his cronies were studying old family trees. No sooner had Tom infiltrated the library did the cat announce that the Heir of Slytherin was present in the room. When the others present in the room heard this, they looked for the source of that mysterious voice. The cat pulled off Tom's Invisibility cloak, and he was revealed to the others.

"You are the Heir of Slytherin?" Abraxas Malfoy said disbelievingly. "You're just a half-blood."

"My mother was Merope Gaunt, the direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin. I am the Heir of Slytherin," he said.

"I don't believe you," said one of Malfoy's cronies. While Malfoy and his group were talking to Tom, the cat changed into a woman, still beneath her Invisibility cloak, and Conjured up a snake.

"Only the Heir of Slytherin could speak Parseltongue," the cat that was not really a cat said aloud. Tom grinned wickedly.

"Pretend to bite them," he hissed to the cobra. The cobra obeyed at once, causing Malfoy and his group to jump on the table to avoid the deadly snake.

"Do you still doubt that I am the Heir of Slytherin?" Tom asked them.

"No," said Abraxas Malfoy.

"Good," said Tom.

"Now, the Heir of Slytherin will take you to his manor to induct you into his service," the cat that was not a cat said. Still under the Invisibility cloak, she flicked her wand at the snake and it turned into a green silk ribbon. "The ribbon is a Portkey," she explained. "In ten minutes, everyone must be touching the ribbon, or there will be consequences." As soon as she finished, she Apparated to Tom's father's home.

She arrived in the parlour, where Tom's father and grandparents were relaxing after dinner. The cat that was not a cat pulled off her cloak and said, "Avada Kedavra," pointing her wand at Tom's grandmother. She died instantly, and the two men were petrified with fear. "Avada Kedavra," the cat that was not a cat said again, and again. The two men died in a flash of green light. She Transfigured their bodies into rugs, and arranged them with a wave of her wand. Another wave transformed the comfortable Muggle mansion into the manor of the Heir of Slytherin. The last thing to be dealt with was the servants. She rang a bell that sat on the table and a maid came scurrying in at once.

"Yes, Mrs. Riddle-" the girl broke off with a scream as she saw a strange woman standing there.

"Imperio," the cat that was not a cat said, casting the Imperius curse calmly on the shrieking maid. "Get the rest of the servants in here at once, or I will chop you fine as mincemeat." The maid ran to do as she was told, and soon all the servants were in the room under the Imperius curse.

"Now, when the Master of the House and his guests arrive and the guests ask to whom this house and these lands belong, you must reply, 'to the Heir of Slytherin.' If you don't, I shall chop you fine as mincemeat."

The servants all nodded, and presently Tom, Malfoy, and Malfoy's cronies appeared in the parlour. Malfoy and the rest of the guests looked around in awe at the imposing manor, decorated solely in black, green, and silver, and with the Slytherin coat-of-arms above the fireplace. Tom saw what the cat was doing, and said nothing, only rang the bell for a servant.

"You may question the servants, if you wish," Tom said nonchalantly to Abraxas Malfoy as the first maid appeared.

"Yes, my Lord," she curtsied to Tom.

"To whom does this house belong?" Abraxas asked the girl.

"To my Lord, the Heir of Slytherin," the girl replied.

"Thank you," Tom dismissed the maid with a wave of her hand.

"Now you must swear your allegiance to me, Lord Voldemort, Heir of Slytherin," Tom said, pointing his wand at Abraxas. Abraxas knelt at Tom's feet, and Tom took hold of his left arm.

"Morsmordre," he said, and Abraxas yelled in pain. A black skull with a snake emerging from it was tattooed on his left forearm. "Who's next?" Tom asked, and pointed his wand at one of Malfoy's cronies.

After all of his new followers had been branded, they were returned to Malfoy Manor, and the cat that was not a cat pulled off her Invisibility cloak.

"Thank you," Tom told her. "But who are you?" She turned back into a woman.

"Minerva?" he gasped, surprised that his arch-enemy was actually his greatest supporter.

"Yes, Tom," she replied. "It is me."

"You did all this for me?" he asked, confused. "But you hate me."

She laughed softly. "Far from it, Tom Riddle," she told him, walking closer to him, placing her hands on his chest. "I believe in you. I believe that you can become something great. I believe that you can purge our world of the unworthy." She kissed him. "Open the Chamber of Secrets," she said when she pulled back. "The entrance is in the girl's bathroom on the second floor. There's a tap that doesn't work – it has a carving of a snake on it."

The next day, Tom did as Minerva told him, and the Chamber of Secrets was opened for the first time.

THE END


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